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I’m not talking beauty queens y’all, these beauties are Chilton County peaches! One of my most treasured southern landmarks is just off 65 south right in the heart of Alabama. Clanton may be proud of their peach queens but the Peach Park is the real crown jewel!

Every year as we make our way to the white sands of the gulf coast, the stop at the Peach Park is almost more important than getting to the beach. You don’t eat breakfast, hop in the car, and make a beeline for exit 205, all the while planning what you’re gonna eat first and what you’ll take for later.

Recipe:

5 cups french bread, cubed into 1″ pieces

2 tbsp butter

3 cups low-fat buttermilk

2 eggs

1/3 cup sugar

1 tsp vanilla

2 cups fresh peaches, sliced

1/2 cup fresh blueberries

2 tbsp light brown sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Cube or tear French bread into 1″ pieces to make 5 cups and place in a large bowl. Pour buttermilk over cubed bread, gently toss to make sure buttermilk is evenly soaking into bread and let sit for about 2o minutes.

Slice about 3 large peaches, enough for 2 cups then add blueberries. Toss with brown sugar and set aside.

In a small bowl, whisk together eggs, sugar and vanilla and set aside. Then put 2 tbsp of butter into a 8×8 or 9×13 baking dish and place in the preheated oven. Once butter melts, remove dish from oven.

While the butter is melting, add egg mixture to buttermilk soaked bread and combine gently. Then fold in peaches and blueberries.

Pour mixture into baking dish with melted butter and bake for 1 to 1 1/2 hours until center is set and the edges have pulled away from the baking dish.

Serve warm with vanilla ice cream.

Notes:

I used an 8×8 baking dish because I like a thicker bread pudding, so it will require about an hour and a half of baking time.

You won’t need the entire loaf of French bread, just enough for 5 cups. Do what any good southern girl would and spread pimento cheese on the leftover bread!

When I was little I hated carrots. My mom would pile them on my plate and I would just stare at them. I was never one of those kids that snuck them under the table to our dog, instead I was hard headed. I made up my mind and decided that carrots were not for me.

Now that I am older and wiser, roasted carrots are one of my favorite veggies. I am still hard-headed and credit the carrots for building my character!

Recipe:

1 lb bag of carrots, washed and peeled

1 tbsp olive oil

coarse kosher salt

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Wash and peel carrots. Then slice on a diagonal into 1/2″ to 3/4″ slices.

Toss carrots in 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Season with salt and then place carrots on a baking sheet.

Roast for 20-30 minutes according to if you prefer them lightly roasted or slightly burnt. Makes 4 servings.

Notes:

Roasted carrots are delicious. They develop a sweet flavor similar to sweet potatoes.

Elaine had a million dollar idea when she became obsessed with muffin tops on an episode of Seinfeld. She insisted that you had to bake the whole muffin and break the top off the stump to get the muffin top. Little did she know that muffin tops would take on a whole new meaning.

A few years ago I mentioned that my jeans were giving me a muffin top and one of my male friends gave me bewildered look. I had to explain just exactly what that was – you see the jean makers of the world got together with the personal trainers of the world and came up with the crazy idea to sell really low-rise jeans. The result, no matter how flat of a stomach you have those low riders are gonna push that extra fluff right up over that waistband!

So muffin top and all, I decided to make a healthy muffin that won’t add too much fluff to the waistline!

Recipe:

1 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup oatmeal (quick cook oats), rough cut in a blender

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup sugar

1 egg

1 cup low-fat buttermilk

1/4 cup applesauce, no sugar added

1/4 cup canola oil

1 tsp vanilla

3 bananas, mashed

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

In a blender or food processor, pulse oatmeal a few times for a rough cut – not to0 fine. Combine flours, oatmeal, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a small bowl.

In a large bowl, mash bananas. Then add the egg, sugar, buttermilk, applesauce, oil, vanilla and stir together.

Add dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and fold together. Do not over stir.

Fill muffin cups and bake for 18-20 minutes. This will make 12-15 medium-sized muffins.

My Grandaddy called me short stack. He was not so tall himself but he was the friendliest person you would ever meet. He was larger than life and never met a stranger. I think he prided himself on being a good teacher of life, you know street smart skills. He taught us all to play golf, taught my mother how to burn rubber in all 4 gears when she started driving and showed me how to make pancakes.

On Sunday mornings at Nana and Grandaddy’s they would have the coffee brewing, the intercom radio playing through the house and Grandaddy would have his griddle ready to go. He would pour the batter on the griddle as I stood and watched him explain that the pancakes had to bubble perfectly before you could flip them.

So to this day I credit him on my love of making pancakes on the weekends, how to golf and how to be a good friend!

Recipe:

1 cup whole wheat flour

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

2 tbsp sugar

1 egg

2 cups low fat buttermilk

1/2 tsp vanilla

1 cup blueberries, fresh or frozen

Mix together all dry ingredients. Then add egg, buttermilk and vanilla. Stir well and then fold in blueberries.

Heat a large skillet or griddle to medium heat. Coat with canola oil spray. Pour 1/4cup of batter onto griddle for each pancake.

When bubbles appear around the egdes and middle its time to flip. Cook about a minute or two per side or until golden brown.

Being from Tennessee and after living many years in Texas – I have learned my way around a bowl of Chili! And since it is a cold Ohio winter, I can’t think of a better way to introduce my first recipe adventure.

I like chili with beans it just adds more texture than the all beef version. Using lean ground turkey breast makes this delicious lowfat version. You can use the regular ground turkey with the 93/7 fat content but I was going for a super lean bowl of chili.

And of course for those of you who like more heat – just add more cayenne until you get it where you want it. Eyes watering and nose running!

Recipe:

Cheddar-Jalapeno Cornbread Croutons

2 cups self-rising cornmeal

1/2 cup all purpose flour

1/4 cup sugar

2 cups lowfat buttermilk

2 tbsp canola oil

2 jalapenos, seeded and diced

1/2 cup lowfat (2%) sharp cheddar cheese, shredded

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix together first 5 ingredients until well blended. Then add in jalapenos and cheese.

Pour into a loaf pan prepared with non-stick spray.

Bake for 55 minutes to 1 hour. The bread will pull away from the sides when it is done – and it never really gets brown on top.

You can make this a day ahead for the croutons.

Croutons:

Cut bread into 1 inch x 1inch pieces and toast on a baking sheet in a 400 degree oven for 5-8 minutes until toasty.

Recipe:

Healthy Turkey Chili

1 tbsp. canola oil

1/2 large sweet yellow onion, finely chopped

1 clove garlic, minced

1 lb lean ground turkey

salt and pepper

3 tbsp chili powder

1 tsp ground cumin

1/4 tsp paprika

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

1 tbsp tomato paste

1 tbsp worcestershire sauce

1 – 14.5 oz can crushed tomatoes

1 – 15 oz. can kidney beans, rinsed and drained

1 – 15 oz. can white beans, rinsed and drained

1 cup low sodium chicken broth

3 cups low sodium tomato juice

In a large, heavy soup pot heat oil over medium-high heat, add onions and cook for two minutes or until tender, add garlic and cook for 1 minute longer.

Add turkey, salt and pepper to taste and cook throughly.

Add spices, tomato paste and worcestershire sauce to the cooked meat and stir to make sure spices are worked in and then add the rest of the ingredients, stirring well.

I never thought that when I started this blog for my son, that what I had learned from my great grandmother, grandmother, mother and a whole host of strong Southern women about the kitchen would become life lessons to guide me through the unexpectedness of life.
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